WEBVTT

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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How does this become this?

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Hi, I'm Joseph DePasquale.

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And I'm Alyssa Pagan.

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And we're science visuals
developers at the Space

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Telescope Science Institute, the
mission and science operations

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center for NASA's James
Webb Space Telescope.

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Our job is essentially to
take the raw images from Webb

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and extract and highlight
the meaningful information

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by producing color images
from the black-and-white data

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we receive.

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So why do we do this?

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By composing color
images from the data,

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we can see details
that we wouldn't

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be able to see otherwise.

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As science visuals
developers, this

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is what we specialize
in and do every day.

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But it's something
that you can do, too.

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A great thing about the
Webb Space Telescope

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is that its observations
are available

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through the Institute's
data archive called MAST.

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You can search for the data,
download raw images from Webb,

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and try composing
color images yourself.

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In this series, we're
going to break down

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the basics of how and why we
take Webb's images from this

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to this.

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So follow along with us here and
visit webbtelescope.org to dive

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deeper into the process of how
Webb's full-color images are

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made.

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You're looking at an
image of thousands

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upon thousands of galaxies,
billions of years old.

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This is what Webb images look
like before image specialists

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process them to
reveal their contents.

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Telescopes like Webb are
designed with science in mind.

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And science goals are what
drive Webb's observations.

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But to our great fortune,
this instrument of science

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also captures the stunning
beauty of the cosmos.

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Before I start working
on a Webb image,

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the data have already
gone through a lot.

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Scientists had to
successfully propose

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to observe the
target, which includes

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a lot of detail like
which filters Webb should

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use on its cameras.

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The data then went through a
calibration system developed

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primarily by scientists
and engineers

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at STSCI, which
correct instrumental

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effects and extracts useful
and accurate information.

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In order to begin composing
color images from this data,

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we start by downloading
the image files

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from our archive called MAST.

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Anyone, including you, can
search for and download

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the files by using the target's
name or coordinates on the sky.

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When we first open these
images, they may appear black.

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But they actually contain a
huge amount of information.

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Webb's detectors are
so sensitive that they

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capture more light than our
eyes or screens can process.

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So we need to use
certain techniques

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to bring out the
faintest details

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and make them
visible to our eyes

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while preserving the
brightest details.

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Stretching and compression
are one of the ways

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that we do this.

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These techniques ensure we
highlight the bulk of what

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was captured in the image.

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We then refine
each piece of data

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by removing any artifacts
or anomalies that

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might be hiding what's there.

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Downloading and working with
the raw data in this way

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is exciting.

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It's kind of like getting
a box of puzzle pieces

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without the picture on the box.

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And this is only the
beginning of the process.

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Stay tuned for the next
video in this series,

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where we'll dive deeper into
the journey of composing

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color images from Webb data.

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While color images of space are
incredibly gorgeous to look at,

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there are so many reasons
behind our efforts

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to visualize Webb's
data in color.

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There are many
wavelengths of light

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around us every day that
we can actually see.

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The Webb Space Telescope
sees infrared light,

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which is a type of light
that's invisible to our eyes.

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If you wore sophisticated
infrared goggles

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and flew through space,
you'd see the universe

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similar to how Webb does.

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But since our eyes
can't naturally

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see an infrared, to
see what Webb sees

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we need to translate the
light into visible color.

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Webb captures
multiple images using

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different filters that detect
specific elements or molecules.

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Then we combine
those images to make

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a composite, assigning different
colors to individual images

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based on the wavelength
of light they detect.

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Just like you would translate
a language you don't understand

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into one that you
do, assigning colors

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this way helps us process
the information in a way

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our eyes can understand.

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The words are always
there, but now we

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can understand what
they're saying.

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After translating the infrared
data to visible color,

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it's time to consider
the aesthetics.

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We use principles of photography
to emphasize certain details

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and ensure that the
image is visually

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engaging while we work
with scientists to ensure

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we're maintaining the
integrity of the original data.

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Composition is also a
big part of this process.

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Sometimes, this just
means rotating the image

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to draw the eye
to important info.

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And sometimes, this
means cropping images

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to create a more balanced look.

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There's no up in
space, so our team

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gets to essentially decide what
up looks like for each image

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we release.

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Composing color images
from Webb's infrared data

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is a really unique combination
of science and art.

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Similar to composing
a symphony, we're

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carefully balancing
each note or each color

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and scientific detail to create
a harmonious, scientifically

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meaningful, and visually
stunning view of the universe.

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Webb has two main cameras--

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NIRCam, the
near-infrared camera,

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and MIRI, the
mid-infrared instrument.

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NIRCam captures shorter
wavelengths of infrared light,

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while MIRI captures
longer wavelengths.

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NIRCam has 29 filters
while MIRI has 9 filters.

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There are a large number
of filter combinations

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that can appear in a Webb image.

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We assign colors in chromatic
order-- blue, green, red--

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from shortest to
longest wavelengths

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for both of Webb's cameras.

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We then carefully review what
each image contains and decide

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which filters to keep in the
final composite image based

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on the data quality,
science, and overall look.

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We'll create images
from each camera,

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but we'll often
have the opportunity

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to combine images from
both cameras, which

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can produce stunning results.

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So there you have
it-- a brief overview

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of composing color images from
Webb Space Telescope data.

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Don't forget, this is all
something you can try yourself.

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You can download raw
images from Webb right now

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and try your hand
at assigning color.

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This series took us
through the highlights.

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And you can learn more
about the actual tools

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you'll need and the whole
process through the resources

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and info on webbtelescope.org.

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Thanks for joining us on
this colorful journey.

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